Settling Nightmares
by StunningGhost
Summary: Kai has been having nightmares all week and Tala wants them to go away. No yaoi just friendship fluff. two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

So I wanted to try an angst type story so here it is. It's different from how I normal write so hopefully it's not too weird. This will probably be a two-shot.

Enjoy~

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beyblade

"_Flashback"_

"Talking"

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**Part 1**

"_You are pathetic! How can someone so weak possibly be my grandson and heir to BioVolt!" Voltaire yelled striking his young grandson on his cheek again._

"_GET UP!" he yelled and the boy stood slowly on his feet again only to be kicked in the side and sent flying, skidding on the floor into the wall, hitting his head on the marble molding in his grandfather's lobby._

"_Pathetic. Useless. Weak. Stupid. Stubborn. Insolent. Fearful. Small. An Embarrassment." With each harsh and hurtful word, Voltaire punished the boy._

"_Kai~." Voltaire said mockingly. "My son gave you that name because it means fire. He thought you would be strong and fierce yet passionate. That was his own downfall. I will make you cold, emotionless…and you WILL listen to me!" he said and delivered the last blow, successfully knocking the poor crying boy unconscious._

_When Kai opened his eyes he was standing before four boys. All sneering and scornful towards him._

"_Look at him. He's nothing special. I don't see why Boris and Voltaire fuss over him all the time. He's nowhere near being as strong or powerful as one of us." One boy with red hair sneered at him._

"_I could beat him into a pulp easily. And look how much emotion he still has. Pathetic." Another one with lilac hair said looking at him disgustingly. _

"_I bet he's stupid too. Bet he knows absolutely nothing. It's sad to let Lord Voltaire's brilliant genes go to waste." The shortest one with a big nose said turning his head to the side._

"_Great, another one I have to make sure survives here. This is just great." The tall blonde said putting his hands on his hips._

_They kept coming closer, cornering him. The lilac haired one lifted him up by his collar and punched him before throwing him onto the ground. He and the redhead continued to hit and kick him while the other two just laughed and continued with the pain inflicting words._

"_Please stop…" Kai whispered trying to keep the tears in his eyes._

"_Look he's going to cry. Crying is weak." The lilac boy said smirking._

"_stop I just…" The redhead shoved him up against the wall._

"_You will not speak unless spoken too, understood? I'm captain here and you will do as I say."_

"_But--"_

"_DID I SAY YOU COULD TALK?!" He said and threw him roughly to the ground. Kai shook his head to answer. The redhead smiled._

"_Good." He said and popped his knuckles._

_All four began closing in on him again and he was filled with panic but didn't dare to say a thing. They were almost about to hit him with evil looks on their faces when he finally softly spoke._

"Please, stop!" Kai said and bolted upright.

He was drenched in sweat, some dripping off his slate haired bangs. Panting hard he tried to adjust his crimson eyes to the darkness, trying not to let panic set in. He realized he was back in his room, in his bed…safe. He let out another breath before shivering from a cold and harsh wind. He looked to his right and saw the window was open letting the freezing cold Russian wind blow into his room and hit him. The wind seemed crueler than usual since he was soaking wet and it seemed to freeze the sweat on him, chilling him to the bone.

Swiftly he got up and shut the window before quietly walking over to his drawers and pulling out a clean long-sleeved t-shirt. He also changed his pajama pants to some new ones and put socks on his feet before climbing back into bed. It was then that the memories of his dreams came flooding back, hitting him full force.

He choked back a sob while remembering the stinging words that have been engraved into his mind. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He put his head on the top of his knees, trying to cover up another heart wrenching sob. How many more nights would he wake up with these nightmares. He hadn't had them in months but they had once again returned.

'_Emotions are a weakness. Crying is for the worthless.' _He repeated the words in his head over and over again, reminding himself of all the lessons he had learned at the Abby. He took deep breathes and tried to focus on calming down. After a while he let out a deep breath, pulling his head up. For some reason he looked over to his left. He stopped every movement and froze on the spot.

He stared straight into pale blue eyes that were unwavering and seemed to see every one of his thoughts. Shock and fear quickly raced through Kai's mind. Shock of forgetting that he shared a room with someone, and fear that they had seen and heard everything. Quickly he put on an emotionless mask and forced himself to let go of his knees and act normal. He looked back at the person to see his eyes hadn't changed and were still analyzing him.

_Tala_

The redhead's eyes narrowed slightly and Kai waited to see the scorn and disgust in them. His crimson eyes widened slightly when he saw the pale blue ones soften. They were not pitying, but understanding. The next thing really caught the smaller boy off guard.

Tala stood up and silently crossed the room. He made himself not frown when he saw Kai flinch and tense up when he got closer. Kai didn't know it but Tala had woken up each night this week and seen him wake up from his nightmares, almost cry, then calm himself before staying awake the rest of the night or end up back in a restless sleep. Finally the redhead had decided to do something about it when he saw Kai falling asleep while reading in the living room earlier that day. It had only been 2:00pm.

Kai stared up at Tala when he reached his bedside. He had pressed his back against the wall that he used as a headboard. Tala raised his arm and Kai closed his eyes expecting to be hit. He had to suppress a small yelp when he felt himself be shoved to the other side of the bed. Tala then laid down on the bed now that there was more room. It was silent for a while before Tala spoke while looking up at the ceiling.

"Are you going to tell me about them?" He asked softly but forcefully at the same time.

"About what?" Kai asked knowing it was pointless but still tried anyways. It didn't work.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about." Tala said slightly annoyed but remained calm. He waited for his friend to talk.

"It's nothing." Kai said sliding down so he was laying down now.

Irritated, Tala leaned up and pretended that he was about to hit him. Kai flinched, closed his eyes, and waited for the blow. It never came. He opened one eye to see Tala smirking smugly.

"It doesn't seem like nothing. A week ago you wouldn't have flinched and would have grabbed my arm and twisted it." Tala said laying all the way back down again. "Talk." he said looking at his best friend from the corner of his eye.

Kai remained silent for a little while before letting out a deep breath.

"They tend to change each night, but they're all relatively similar." He said softly but Tala heard him clearly. He waited, wanting him to continue.

"I had messed up in training and Voltaire was giving me his usual 'punishment'." Kai said with a grim laugh.

"He kept telling me how pathetic and useless I am. How I'm weak and fearful. I deserved it though. I had lost to some rookie kid in a beyblading match when we were training. Then…" Kai trailed off as he remembered the second part of the dream.

He didn't want his redheaded friend to feel guilty about what he had said in the dream. So he decided to keep it to himself. Tala noticed that he was leaving something out and turned to look at him.

"I don't know why I got so upset. I should be used to it by now, it's all true anyways." Kai said.

He was taken aback by the sharp stinging he felt when Tala slapped him across his cheek. Kai's eyes widened before looking away solemnly.

"Don't ever say that again, understood?" Tala said sternly. He felt guilty though when he saw Kai's widen at his word choice and just nodded.

"It was us wasn't it?" Tala said pulling Kai out of his thoughts. Kai looked at him but didn't answer.

"What you left out, it was us hurting you and telling you all that stuff wasn't it?" Tala asked softly.

Kai just nodded.

Tala growled lowly. Now he knew why Kai had started to have these nightmares again. It had been something Bryan had said when he was angry. He would have a talk with the falcon later. He turned onto his side so he was facing Kai.

"Listen to me." He said and Kai glanced at him.

"I'm sorry for how we acted when we were kids. It was horrible and I'm sorry, we all are. Also everything Voltaire told you was a lie. You are not any of those things he called you." Tala told him seriously. He turned Kai's head so he would look at him. Kai couldn't turn away from his gaze.

"He's the one who's pathetic, useless, weak, fearful, and cold. Pathetic because he couldn't see how great a person you really were. Useless because he couldn't do anything on his own and had to blackmail others to get them to work for him. Weak? He was the weakest person I knew! He had to wait until you were already exhausted from practice or another punishment before he could beat you or any of us himself. He only said all those things because he was scared you would become more powerful than him and he wanted to break your mind. He was the cold one, not you." Tala said truthfully, keeping his hand on Kai's cheek the entire time, covering two triangles.

Kai continued staring into his friend's eyes speechless. Tala used this momentary lapse to continue.

"We'll make sure everything's settled tomorrow. Get some sleep. You're safe now." Tala said smirking before giving the younger boy a sincere smile.

Kai mirrored his smile. He really did feel slightly more at ease.

"Thanks Tal, for everything." Kai said closing his eyes as he rested his head back onto his soft pillow.

"No problem phoenix. Now go to sleep." Tala said laying down on his side so he was facing him.

Kai was also laying down on his side facing Tala. The redhead wrapped his arms around him, hugging him closer but not too close to make it awkward. He waited until Kai was sound asleep before going back to sleep himself.

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I guess this could be a one-shot but I wanted to write another chapter so there will be two. I will update for this one later in the week. Brother's coming home and school starts but I will try to update for both stories soon.

StunningGhost


	2. Chapter 2

-1Hey I'm sorry it took me a while to update! My soccer coach is being evil and making us run like crazy everyday after school so I am way too tired to write anything so that's why it's taken me a while. Thanks for reading this!

Enjoy~

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Beyblade

"_Flashback"_

"Talking"

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**Chapter 2**

Tala slowly woke up from the wind howling outside. He opened his eyes slowly before having to close them. He was facing the window and the winter sun was shining through. He frowned slightly before realizing why the sun had been able to reach him. He then remembered that he was sleeping on Kai's bed which was by the window. Tala's was on the opposite side of the room.

Tala looked down, expecting to see slate hair, but instead just saw the bed and the rest of the pillow. He sat up and stretched his arms above his head while yawning, his canine teeth showing. He turned around and read the clock on the nightstand.

7:05am

'_Hm. So that's why he's not here. He must still be on his morning run or downstairs.'_ Tala thought _before_ getting up and making his way to the door. He walked into the hall and down the stairs, heading for the kitchen.

He walked in and saw Spencer and Bryan eating. Tala couldn't help but allow a low growl to slip through as he eyed Bryan. Spencer heard him and looked at him raising his eyebrows slightly. He followed his gaze to look at the lilac haired blader before looking back down at his cup. He saw he was out of orange juice so got up to get some more.

Tala all but stomped over to the table, slamming his hands on the top. Bryan jumped slightly, not expecting the sudden movement but relaxed slightly when he realized it was his captain who had made the noise. He then tensed back up when he saw the lethal look he was receiving.

"What?" Bryan snapped, giving the redhead a glare of his own, but not as strong.

"You're causing Kai's nightmares." Tala told him, his eyes narrowing a fraction, magnifying the intensity.

Bryan scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"How am I causing them? And why does it matter? We all get nightmares from time to time. It would be weird if _we_ didn't." He said looking back down at the sports section Spencer had given him.

"It matters because for the past week he's been having them and barely getting any sleep. He wakes up crying sometimes! This is Kai we're talking about!" Tala snapped.

Spencer heard this and decided to join in on the conversation.

"Is that why he banged his head on the table yesterday? He fell asleep?" Spencer said trying not to laugh but he was also concerned. Tala nodded, sending him a glare meaning it was not funny.

"He finally talked about them when I confronted him about it. If I hadn't shared a room with him, no one would have realized he was having them. He's somewhat better now but I don't think they will go away until you apologize. If not he'll crash soon." Tala said crossing his arms and looking back at Bryan.

"I still don't know why this is my fault. He should have been able to realize I was just angry at the time." Bryan said not liking being accused.

Tala growled, and subconsciously Spencer moved to stand in between them in case one of them lunged forward

"Don't you remember what you said?" Tala spat.

Bryan glared at him, standing up now and leaning on his hands on the table. He thought back to last week when they were taking ornaments off of the tree.

_Flashback_

_Bryan, Kai, and Ian were in the living room getting ready to take down the Christmas tree. Tala and Spencer were in the kitchen cooking dinner. The three in the living room stared up at the massive tree Tala had made them buy this year. Of course out of all the trees in the grove, their captain picked the fattest tree. He had also bought a bunch of fragile round Christmas ornaments to hang on it. _

_Ian was walking around the tree gathering the ornaments on the lower branches and putting them in a large box, carefully. Bryan had a ladder set up next to the tree so he could get the ones on the top branches. He mumbled under his breath as he took down an armful of decorations and began to descend the ladder. Kai was holding the ladder still since it was not a very reliable one._

_Bryan had not been having the best day. He had woken up at 5:30 in the morning when Kai accidentally knocked a pot off the counter. Bryan had then not been able to go to sleep, so decided to go downstairs. Unfortunately, Ian had left a pair of his sneakers on the stairs and Bryan tripped on them and fell down three stairs. When he went into the kitchen it was pitch black still, the lights were still off and the sun had not come up yet. He could see the outline of Kai from the moonlight shining through the window. His back was turned to him._

_Bryan walked over and was going to ask him why he was throwing pots around so early in the morning, but of course, nothing was going his way. Bryan patted Kai's shoulder and began asking him when he felt Kai go rigid under his hand._

"_Oh shit…" _

_That was all Bryan got to say before Kai whirled around, grabbing his arm that was outstretched ,and punched him in the stomach. All of this was done on instinct of being scared suddenly. Bryan doubled over but looked up to see Kai staring at him with wide eyes. Bryan looked closer and realized why Kai had not heard him enter the room. He was listening to his iPod. Bryan growled while Kai let go of his arm and took out the earphones._

_That was just this morning. By the time they began taking down Christmas decorations he had fallen down the stairs twice, burned his mouth on hot(extremely hot) chocolate, slammed three fingers in a door, and had nearly been decapitated by a butcher knife wielding Spencer. So Bryan was on his last straw and luckily nothing bad had happened while taking down the tree, yet. Bryan began climbing down the ladder. _

_Suddenly, Ian ran around the tree and flew straight into Kai, sending him right into the ladder he was supporting. It shook violently and fell backwards with a huge crash. Bryan went flying onto the ground, along with about twenty ornaments that shattered on the ground. Bryan winced as he smacked into the ground and felt his skin getting cut by the sharp pieces of thin plastic from the ornaments that had broken. He looked up to see Kai stand up, taking a shard out of his hand. Bryan couldn't help himself and finally snapped._

"_Why do you even bother helping out?! You just make things worse all the time! So pathetic and useless!!" Bryan hissed getting up off the ground._

_Kai's eyes widened at the harsh words and he took an involuntary step backwards._

"_I didn't mean to fall, Ian ran into me and I knocked over the ladder. It was an accident." Kai defended himself._

"_Like hell it was! I'm so sick of you living here! You just annoy the heck out of all of us and get in the way! Tala and Spencer only let you stay because they pity you, but eventually they will get old of you as well!" Bryan spat and kicked some of the pieces of ornaments at him, landing at his feet as Kai moved back again._

_He stomped past the stunned phoenix and up the stairs to his room. Kai flinched greatly when he heard his door slam closed. Tala and Spencer had heard everything. They had walked in to see what had happened. Ian had remained silent in the corner of the room._

"_Kai?" Tala asked stepping closer to his friend. Kai seemed to snap out of his spaced out state and instantly had an emotionless mask on his face and turned his slightly dimmed eyes to Tala._

"_What?" He asked indifferently. Tala frowned._

'_Don't do that. Don't shut me out…' he thought dejectedly._

"_Are you alright?" he asked standing in front of him._

_Kai glanced around swiftly and saw Spencer and Ian were watching him. He then looked back at his redheaded captain. He straightened his posture._

"_Why wouldn't I be?" He said rhetorically and walked past all of them and out the front door._

Tala sighed. Kai had come back later that night and acted like nothing had happened. They had all thought he was fine so they left him alone. Tala looked at Bryan. He had his gaze lowered to the table.

"He should have known I was just angry. I've vented off on him before and he's been fine." Bryan said with some guilt in his voice now.

"I think it was specifically what you said, like him being useless and pathetic. I think it triggered a memory." Tala said. Bryan sighed.

"Fine, I'll talk to him when he gets back." Bryan said taking a bite of his toast.

As if on cue the three in the kitchen heard the front door open. Tala sat down at the opposite side of the table and Spencer sat back down at his original spot. They heard the door shut and the sound of someone taking off their shoes. They new for sure now that it was Kai. He was the only one that took his shoes off by the front door. It was a habit he had from living in Japan for so long.

Soon enough the slate haired boy walked into the kitchen with his iPod playing. He jumped slightly when he saw everyone's gaze on him. He pulled out his earphones and paused the music.

"What?" he asked walking over to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water and moved towards the table.

Bryan nervously glanced towards Tala who was staring at him from across the table. The redhead raised his mug with both hands and took a sip, his stare never leaving Bryan's face. Not even to blink. Bryan took a gulp before looking back at Kai who had a raised eyebrow at all of them.

"You seem tired." Spencer stated breaking the ice. Kai gave him a smirk.

"I just got back from an hour and a half jog, most people would be." He said took a sip of his water.

"That's not what I meant." Spencer growled and drank his orange juice irritatedly.

Tala, still looking at Bryan spoke to Spencer.

"Hey Spence, there's something in the living room I want to show you." Tala said and stood up, finally breaking his gaze to look at the blonde.

"Sure. There's toast over there if you want any Kai." he said and the two walked out of the room leaving Bryan and Kai alone. Kai grabbed a piece of toast before sitting in Spencer's seat.

The two sat in silence.

"Ummmm Kai…" Bryan started but faltered a little. Kai looked at him emotionlessly.

"Yes?" He asked but it was quite cold.

Bryan sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. _'Damn pride issues.'_

"I'm really, really sorry about the other day. I didn't mean all that stuff I said to you. I was just angry and decided to take it out on you since we normally fight. I thought you hadn't taken it personally because you acted fine afterwards but Tala told me about the nightmares." Kai looked downward, his bangs covering his eyes.

"You know everything I said was a lie, right? Especially about you being useless and stuff." Kai looked back up at him at this. "And, even though I don't act like it, I like you being here. Everyone notices a difference when you go back to Japan to visit G-rev. And Tala and Spencer don't pity you, far from it actually. So I hope you won't be upset with me anymore and will let everything go. Don't let memories haunt you alright?" Bryan told him standing up. He took a deep breath and awkwardly walked over to him.

Kai tensed slightly when Bryan walked over to his chair. Bryan smiled a sincere smile, much like the one Tala gave him last night, but he felt completely reassured now. He stood up and allowed Bryan to embrace him in a tight, comforting hug.

"I've got you." Bryan told him.

Kai felt wanted and safe in the hug and let himself relax completely, allowing Bryan to hold him up slightly. Suddenly he felt someone hugging him from behind and saw a glimpse of red hair out of the corner of his eye. He smiled and grinned even bigger when he felt another hug wrap around theirs. Spencer was now hugging him as well from the side.

They each seemed to be able to help him in their own ways but they all got the job done in bringing down his strong mask and barriers. He didn't have to worry about anymore nightmares for a long time.

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Well the end~. I'm slightly disappointed with this chapter, it should have just been a one-shot I think. Once again thanks for reading! Bye~

StunningGhost


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